Groundwork Ohio Roadshow 2026: Licking County
Groundwork Ohio’s 2026 Roadshow traveled to Licking County on September 24 for a community conversation co-hosted by Journey to Five. The afternoon at the Licking County Library in Newark focused on a milestone that can shape a child’s trajectory for years to come: kindergarten readiness. The conversation brought together leaders from early learning, education, health care, behavioral health, and community organizations to explore what children need during their first five years to arrive at kindergarten ready to learn and thrive.
The discussion also included Sydney Sharp from Congressman Troy Balderson’s office (OH-12), helping connect what Groundwork heard from the community with federal policymakers.
Kindergarten Readiness Starts Long Before Kindergarten
The conversation opened with statewide context from Lynanne Gutierrez, President & CEO of Groundwork Ohio, and a presentation from Deb Grayson of Journey to Five, a Licking County initiative focused on increasing the number of children prepared to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.
Licking County currently has about 50% of children demonstrating kindergarten readiness, compared with 45% statewide. While that represents progress, participants emphasized that readiness is about much more than what a child knows academically on the first day of school.
Children begin building the skills they need from birth. Talking, reading, singing, playing, learning to take turns, communicating needs, managing emotions, and interacting with others all contribute to the foundation children carry into the classroom.
As Grayson explained, two children can arrive at kindergarten equally capable and full of potential but with very different experiences behind them.
“The difference between these two children is not their potential. The difference is the experiences that the child has had from birth to age five.”
That understanding is driving Journey to Five, which now brings together more than 30 partners spanning health care, education, child care, public health, government, business, and nonprofit organizations. The initiative is working to support families, strengthen early childhood professionals, and build stronger connections between child care providers and local school districts.
What We Heard in Licking County
A panel discussion featured Amanda Plant of The Village Network; Laura Edelblut of Licking Memorial Health Systems; Dana Moore of Buckeye Valley Family YMCA; and Brandi Wade of Licking Heights Local Schools’ Pathfinders Preschool.
Across sectors, the conversation underscored that kindergarten readiness cannot be separated from the circumstances surrounding a child and family.
Access to affordable, high-quality child care remains a significant barrier. Participants described a complicated landscape in which some programs have seats available that families cannot afford, while other families who can afford care cannot find an available space. Providers also noted that Licking County has lost child care capacity since the pandemic.
For some parents, child care costs can influence whether they remain in the workforce at all.
“It kind of becomes a catch-22 of we have seats available, but then you can’t afford it.”
Participants stressed that this makes child care not only an early childhood issue, but an economic one.
Readiness Means Supporting the Whole Child—and Family
The conversation also highlighted the importance of children’s social-emotional development. Educators are seeing children enter classrooms needing more support with self-regulation, communication, toileting, and other foundational skills that help them participate and learn.
Behavioral health, physical health, and family stability are part of the equation, too. Pediatric well visits can identify developmental delays and connect families with resources, while screenings can reveal challenges such as food insecurity, financial strain, or caregiver health concerns. As participants noted, it can be difficult for a parent to focus on kindergarten readiness when they are worried about putting food on the table.
That means improving kindergarten readiness requires looking beyond the classroom to the full environment surrounding children.
Supporting the People Who Support Young Children
The conversation also turned to Ohio’s early childhood workforce. Participants emphasized that child care professionals are educators doing intentional, skilled work during the period when children’s brains are developing most rapidly.
But programs face a difficult financial equation: families already struggle to afford care, while providers need to pay educators more and absorb rising operating costs.
One participant summarized the challenge:
“Right now, child care is not a sustainable system. We cannot continue to raise rates on families. We need to pay people more.”
Participants identified other opportunities for Licking County, including reaching more families through community events, connecting children with preventive health care, maintaining transportation options that help families reach appointments and other resources, and expanding behavioral health supports for very young children.
It Takes a Community
Perhaps the clearest takeaway from Licking County was that no single program, provider, school, or family can improve kindergarten readiness alone.
Families are children’s first teachers, but communities also have a role to play. Journey to Five is putting that idea into practice by connecting organizations that touch different parts of a child’s life and creating a stronger network of support.
And preparing children for school does not require turning homes into classrooms or teaching to a test. Dr. Wendy Grove, Senior Advisor, Research, Evaluation, & Impact at the Ohio Department of Children & Youth, emphasized that kindergarten readiness is about supporting children’s development—not preparing them for specific assessment questions. Simple, everyday interactions matter: talking, singing, reading, playing, and giving children opportunities to communicate, build relationships, and explore the world around them.
As Dr. Grove put it:
“Don’t ever stop talking to your baby.”
As Journey to Five summed it up:
“The journey matters. Kindergarten readiness matters. Never too early, never too late to start. Together we build bright futures.”
Continuing the Roadshow
Our time in Licking County reinforced a message we are hearing throughout Ohio: the first five years of a child’s life are shaped by interconnected systems—child care, health care, behavioral health, family economic stability, schools, and community supports.
As Groundwork Ohio continues traveling across the state, we will keep listening to the families, professionals, community leaders, and policymakers closest to this work. Their experiences will help inform the policy and investment decisions ahead as we work toward our shared goal of making Ohio the best place to be a young child.
Learn More
Explore Groundwork Ohio’s county fact sheets to learn more about the data behind this Roadshow stop.
